


Beautiful things happen when you let your heart rule your head

by EmilyRuth94



Category: Holby City
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 15:52:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15343233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmilyRuth94/pseuds/EmilyRuth94
Summary: It's great when you wake up to the smell of someone cooking bacon. It's not so great when you know you were alone when you went to bed. Serena Campbell wakes up to a surprise.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Eek! Hello, I've been an on/off Holby City fan for the last 15 years! But it wasn't until recently that I felt complied to write anything. The whole Bernie/Serena storyline has been so much to so many people, least of all me. Probably helps that Jemma Redgrave and Catherine Russell are both so perfect! I could ramble on for a long time, but I'll spare you all and just hope that my writing does these two justice!

The first thing Serena thought when she woke up and smelled the delicious aroma of bacon cooking was how delightful it was that someone was making breakfast for her.

Hang on.

When she'd gone to bed the previous night she had most definitely been alone. Who the bloody hell was in her house cooking bacon?

Tentatively she stepped out of bed and wrapped herself protectively in her dressing gown. Then she tiptoed out of her bedroom and downstairs towards the kitchen. Her hand was clasped tightly around her mobile phone in case she had to quickly call the emergency services. When she burst into the kitchen the sight that greeted her was one she certainly wasn't expecting. Stood in front of the stove with earphones in her ears, dancing to an unheard tune was one Major Berenice Wolfe. Serena watched the blonde move effortlessly around the kitchen for a few moments whilst she waited for her own heart rate to calm down before she softly crept up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. Bernie jumped and turned swiftly around so she was face to face with her lover.

"Good morning." Bernie whispered breathlessly with a massive grin splashed over her face as she pulled the earphones out of her ears.

Serena didn't have time for the formalities and she threw herself into Bernie's welcoming arms. She tipped her head back and pressed their lips together in a passionate kiss, full of love and longing. They stayed this way for several moments until oxygen became a necessity and Serena pulled back and straightened herself up.

"Bernie. As happy as I am to see you, despite the fact that you lead me to believe I had an intruder until moments ago, what on earth are you doing here?" Serena said, taking Bernie's hands into her own.

"I forgot something." Bernie replied, matter-of-factly with a smile still etched onto her face. She handed Serena a mug of freshly brewed coffee and picked up the two plates of steaming food and indicated for Serena to follow her over to the kitchen table. Serena followed her lover with a very perplexed expression on her face.

The two ladies sat down opposite each other and Serena waited tentatively for Bernie to start talking.

"You forgot something?" Serena said as a way of urging Bernie to speak.

Bernie took a mouthful of her coffee and looked over at Serena with sparkling eyes.

"Yes. I forgot you." She replied.

"Oh Bernie, we've been through this. I really can't leave, I have Jason and the baby and the hospital here needs me, I just can't." Serena protested exasperatedly.

Bernie swallowed a mouthful of her coffee whilst she waited patiently for Serena to finish talking.

"We've spent too long apart." She replied simply "and I'll admit it took me far longer than it should have done to realise that I can't be without you any more, and if that means choosing you over Nairobi, then I whole heartedly choose you. I've spent far too many years choosing my career over my heart and I decided that it was about time I gave my heart what it wants. My heart has never wanted anything or anyone as much as it wants you. I..."

But Bernie wasn't to finish her sentence as Serena launched herself across the table and interrupted her with a kiss. It didn't take long for Serena to take Bernie by the hand and lead her upstairs back into the bedroom, leaving breakfast forgotten.

HCHCHCHCHCHCHCHCHCHCHCHCHC

Much later that morning Bernie and Serena lay together in Serena's large comfortable bed. They were a tangle of limbs and neither were entirely sure where one person ended and the other began, but that was how they liked it, they were together and planned on never being apart again.

"I missed you so much." Serena whispered as she looked deeply into Bernie's eyes "I can't believe you're here."

"Better believe it baby." Bernie mumbled with a slight giggle " 'cause this is where I'm staying."

Serena moved her hand and started running her fingers through Bernie's hair.

"When did you get here?" She asked.

"Hmmm." Bernie replied with her eyes closed, clearly enjoyed having her hair played with. "I decided about 48 hours ago that I couldn't bear to be without you for a moment longer, so I booked a flight, got my affairs in order and then got on a plane. I landed into London around 9pm last night and phoned my delightful son to beg a lift, luckily he was all to happy to help and we got here around midnight. Rather than wake you I let myself in and slept on the sofa, ready to surprise you with breakfast this morning. Though that was a total waste!" she added with a giggle.

"I love you." Serena whispered, hoping that everything she wanted to say to the woman in her arms was conveyed by those three words.

"I love you too." Bernie replied, moving so that she was able to pull Serena tightly into her arms.

The women lay comfortably together for what felt like hours until Bernie shifted slightly and sat up.

"I need to phone Cameron," she said to Serena as a way of explanation, "he told me last night to keep him updated and I bet he'll be waiting for my call." She leaned down to press a kiss onto Serena's forehead, hopped off the bed and grabbed one of Serena's t-shirts along with her underwear. She slipped them on and made her way downstairs. Serena wasn't too far behind and made her way into the kitchen. She turned on her coffee machine before making a start at clearing up their forgotten breakfast.

Around fifteen minutes later Bernie walked back into the kitchen with a massive grin plastered over her face.

"Okay Cam, yes that sounds great. Yes I'll ask her. I'll speak to you later, I love you." She said into her phone before ending the call and placing her phone down on the kitchen table. She looked over at Serena and her grin widened. "Cameron is absolutely delighted and sends you his best wishes. He's asked if you'd like to join us for dinner this evening with Charlotte."

Serena raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow in surprise.

"How does Charlotte feel about that?" She asked Bernie who just smiled.

"It was Charlie's idea actually. Building bridges and all that, will you come with me?" Bernie asked.

"I'd be delighted to." Serena replied as she walked over to her lover and pulled her into her arms.

They stood for a while, just enjoying the feeling of being together. Bernie hugged Serena extra tight then pulled away.

"I'll text Cam and let him know it'll be four for dinner. Then I guess I'm going to have to have a think about the practicalities of things now I'm back. I sold my house before I left so I'm going to have to find somewhere to live, then there's the matter of work. I..." Bernie stopped talking as she noticed the look of disappointment on Serena's face.

"Hey, is everything OK?" she asked, taking Serena's hands into her own.

"No I'm fine." Serena lied, putting on a smile for Bernie.

Bernie narrowed her eyes.

"Serena, what's the matter?" She asked.

"I'm being silly... I don't know, I just presumed that now you were back you'd perhaps be staying here with me." Serena mumbled, looking down.

Realisation dawned on Bernie's face and she pulled Serena back into a hug.

"Oh, my darling. I didn't want to presume anything. I'd love to stay here with you." Bernie said into Serena's shoulder as she held her close.

Serena looked up at Bernie.

"You would?" She asked, with a hopeful expression on her face.

Bernie just nodded before pressing their lips together.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anddddd here's chapter two!

Later that evening Bernie was sat on the floor of what was now their bedroom rummaging in her suitcase for something to wear for dinner with her children. Serena was sat at her dressing table watching the blonde intently.

"You know, you could have unpacked that this afternoon. We have plenty of space in our bedroom." She said with a slight giggle.

Bernie looked up at her with a lustful expression on her face.

"I could have done you're right, but I did fly almost five thousand miles to be with my beautiful partner," She replied as she started to crawl the short space across the room to where Serena was sat "and we had lots of catching up to do." She added with a grin as she began to trace her fingers up Serena's legs.

Serena caught Bernie's hand as it was about to make its way up her thigh.

"As much as I like that particular train of thought, we have to leave fairly soon to have dinner with your children, I still need to finish getting ready and you Ms. Wolfe need to find something to wear." Serena told her lover.

Bernie pouted slightly before standing up, she bent down to press a kiss to Serena's temple before walking back to her case to find something to wear. Serena watched her walk across the room with a massive smile on her face, she couldn't remember a time when she'd felt so happy and at ease with life and she really liked it, it was definitely a feeling she could get used to.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A short time later Bernie and Serena were in the hallway awaiting the arrival of their taxi. Bernie had offered to drive but Serena had decided that a taxi would be better so they could both celebrate their reunion with a few drinks over dinner. Bernie had finally settled on a red silk blouse with black jeans and grey patent ballet flats, whilst Serena wore a turquoise polka dot blouse with cream trousers and white sandals. Serena was touching up her lipstick (after Bernie had smudged it for the umpteenth time that evening) when their taxi arrived, Bernie held her hand out and the two ladies walked out to the car together.

"Looking good ladies." Their taxi driver told them appreciatively, clearly eyeing the two of them up as they stepped into the car.

Serena smiled broadly.

"Thank you, it's a special occasion tonight! My girlfriend here," Serena indicated over to Bernie and put her arm around her "has just come home after spending quite a long time away in Kenya so we're off out to celebrate her return with the kids. I say kids, they're both in their twenties now but you know." She told the driver whilst Bernie attempted to stifle her giggles.

"I certainly do, got a couple of 'em myself." The taxi driver replied stiffly. "So, Kenya eh? What were you doing over there?" he asked.

Bernie replied and told him all about her trauma centre, making sure he knew she was former military for extra measure. The rest of the journey was fairly quiet and went by quickly. When they arrived at the restaurant Serena settled the taxi fare and the two women got out of the taxi in a fit of giggles.

"You got quite territorial in there Ms. Campbell." Bernie said as they walked towards the entrance of the restaurant arm in arm "I have to say I quite liked it." She added, lowering her voice.

"Wait until I get you home Major Wolfe… You'll see just how territorial I can be." Serena replied, as they walked into the restaurant, her voice husky and no more than a whisper.

Bernie was about to offer a retort when she saw the smiling faces of her two children, waving them over to their table.

"We'll have this conversation later." She told Serena before quickly making her way over towards where Cameron and Charlotte were.

"Hello darlings." She said slightly uncertainly as she approached them, unsure how they would react to her. Charlotte surprised her by standing up, moving around the table and greeting her mother with a big hug.

"I'm so happy to see you mum." Charlotte told her as Bernie wrapped her arms tightly around the younger woman.

Serena watched the embrace from a distance, not really wanting to interrupt the tender moment between mother and daughter. It was a very bittersweet moment for her to watch, she was of course delighted that Charlotte was building bridges with her mother, it just hurt that Elinor would never be able to do the same with her. Cameron noticed her hesitation and beckoned her over.

"C'mon Ms. Campbell." He said as she walked over "It's nice to see you again. I was of course very sorry to hear about Elinor." He added as he hugged her.

"Thank you Cameron, it's very nice to see you again too." Serena replied with a sad smile.

Charlotte relinquished her grip on her mother and held her hand out to Serena.

"Hello Serena." She said with a smile.

Serena took the proffered hand and grasped it tightly.

"Hello Charlotte." She replied. There were lots between them to say, but that would come. For now, they would enjoy an evening together.

Cameron clapped his hands together as everyone took their seats at the table.

"Now that formalities are out the way, who's up for a drink? I'm sure the waiter is around here somewhere." He said catching the waiters eye and beckoning him over. He was about to place his order when Serena interrupted him.

"We'll take a bottle of champagne, Bollinger if you have it. Four glasses please, we do have a reason to celebrate tonight after all." She said grinning, indicating her head over to Bernie.

"Actually." Charlotte added "We'll only be needing three glasses, there is one one other tiny we need to celebrate this evening." She said, looking down shyly.

Bernie's jaw dropped, and Serena was certain her partner's heart stopped for just a second.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Bernie managed to splutter out.

Charlotte gave both Bernie and Serena a big smiled.

"It definitely does." She almost whispered, "You and Serena are going to be grannies mum!"

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the excitement of Charlotte's announcement had died down, everyone had settled to their champagne and dinner.

"When do I get to meet the lucky man?" Bernie asked her daughter as she swallowed a mouthful of champagne.

"We're just in the process of moving into a new place. But once things are settled we'd love to have you and Serena over for lunch. We have a little French bulldog puppy too who I'm sure would love to meet you." Charlotte replied.

"Richard's a stellar bloke mum. I'm sure you'll like him." Cameron added, what her thought was helpfully. But Bernie raised an eyebrow at him. "C'mon mum really, do you think I'm going to let my little sister get serious with anyone I haven't vetted first?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes at her brother and placed her napkin very delicately on the table.

"If you don't mind me, I need to make a quick visit to the ladies. I won't go into details, but I do have a baby bouncing around on my bladder!" She added with a giggle.

Bernie went to stand up with her, but Serena put her hand on her arm. Bernie knew that this meant that Serena wanted some time on her own with Charlotte and stayed seated whilst the brunette woman followed her to the ladies.

"Thank you Charlotte." Was all Serena could manage to say once they were in the confines of the ladies room before she broke down into a fit of sobs. Charlotte was very quick to stand in front of the woman and wrap her in a comforting hug. They stayed that was for many minutes whilst Serena cried. She cried tears of grief for her daughter, she cried tears of exhaustion after a very gruelling few months with Jason and his new family, coupled with working long shifts. She cried tears of joy about having her Bernie home and she cried tears of gratitude that Charlotte wanted her to be a grandmother to her baby. Charlotte stood patiently and rubbed the back of her mother's partner until her tears subsided.

"I'm so sorry." Serena said as she straightened herself up "I don't know what came over me." She added as she pulled a paper towel out of the dispenser and began to dab at her face but Charlotte shook her head.

"You have absolutely nothing to apologise for." Charlotte said with a warm smile "My mum's special, I'm glad that she has someone just as special to love her and look after her. Now if you'll excuse me, I really need to go!" She added with a slight laugh as she made her way into one of the cubicles. Serena took another couple of moments to compose herself before she made her way back to Bernie and Cameron.

"Everything ok?" Bernie asked Serena as she sat down. Serena responded with a nod before she downed the remainder of her champagne and looked around for a waiter to order some Shiraz.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several hours later after dinner with lots of wine, Bernie and Serena was back in the comfort of their shared bed. Serena was laying on her back with Bernie's head resting on her chest, tracing patterns on her exposed skin.

"Mmm I can't tell you how nice that feels." Bernie almost purred. "It's one of the many many things I missed about you whilst we were apart."

"What did you miss the most?" Serena asked absentmindedly.

"This." Bernie replied simply. "I saw your face every time I looked at my phone, I heard your voice every day when we called each other. I even took a bottle of your favourite perfume with me so I could smell you every day. But it was the not being able to touch you that really got me."

"I wondered where that perfume went!" Serena said with a humorous edge to her voice. "I missed touching you too." She ran a finger tip down Bernie's arm as if to make her point.

"I like this train of thought." Bernie said, her voice thick with lust.

"I'd have hoped you would grannie!" Serena replied with a giggle.

"You did not just do that!" Bernie exclaimed, moving very suddenly so she was leaning over Serena. "I love you." She whispered as she looked into her lovers eyes.

"I love you too." Serena replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wahooo. Chapter two took me a while to get together, but I'm pretty happy with this. This story still has some way to go, hopefully chapter three won't be as troublesome! I'm aiming for weekly updates from now on (writing that down so I actually do it!)  
> Until next time!  
> Em xx

**Author's Note:**

> Hope that was OK! There will be more from me featuring these two lovely ladies very soon, they have a family dinner to get to! Until then, Em xxx


End file.
